Cheese Breeze
by Rachel3003
Summary: The first few times Plagg disappeared during class a few weeks ago, Adrien didn't think much about it. And then was when things started getting weird, today Plagg hadn't returned until the final bell ring; he even stayed MIA through the lunch break. Something's going on, and he doesn't like it. A little spin off from Breeze by 3laxx. MIRACULOUS LADYBUG BELONGS TO THOMAS ASTRUC.
1. Chapter 1

The first few times Plagg disappeared during class a few weeks ago, Adrien didn't think much about it. The cheese disappeared way before they had reached the school too and he was back before the bell rang for the first break so he didn't say anything. He got a little suspicious when Plagg started to save the Camembert for later, but it was gone along with the kwami by the time he did his routine check of his bag. He though nothing of it. And then was when things started getting weird. Sometimes the cheese was left untouched, others even the container was gone. And today Plagg hadn't returned until the final bell ring; he even stayed MIA through the lunch break. Something's going on, and he doesn't like it one bit.

On the way home, the little sprite stays silent, nibbling on a thin slice of Camembert absentmindedly. He doesn't speak as they enter the mansion and doesn't demand another piece when they get to Adrien's room. The god of destruction just swallows what's left of the cheese he still has and floats to the trashcan. Adrien frowns, but he has a _ton_ of homework. He will ask him later.

It isn't until two and a half hours later, when _his own_ stomach grumbles, that he notices that Plagg has stayed silent the hole time.

"Plagg?" Adrien gets up from his chair and walks to Plagg's 'room', only to find him asleep. "Plagg! Snack time!" the god opens his eyes slowly and blinks at him. Yawning, he floats upwards. "C'mon, I'll get you some Camembert." Before he can turn to the fridge he has in the room for that sole purpose, the little sprite speaks.

"I don't want it."

Adrien freezes. Has Plagg just…?

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me. I don't want it." And with that he zips to the second floor of the room.

Yep, Plagg has just refused Camembert.

 _Camembert._

 _Plagg has refused CAMEMBERT!_

What the hell is going on?!

The next few days, Plagg disappears around the first class and Adrien doesn't see him until the final bell, unless there's an Akuma attack. Sometimes part of the cheese vanishes with him, but most of the time it stays untouched.

Today, by the time Adrien's taking his tablet out of the bag for his first class, the kwami's already gone. The Camembert forgotten in its plastic container. He looks around the class: Chloe and Sabrina at his side, Nino and Alya behind him, Mylene and Alix at their side, behind Nino and Alya Ivan and Nathaniel, at their side Kim and Max and behind them Rose and Juleka. And then… his eyes catch the dark form that has become the last of his classmates. He turns immediately; the pain and guilt that overcomes him every time he sees her is unbearable. Just last week, he had found her drunk in an alley; crying a single tear before wiping it away, laughing a second before stopping abruptly.

He'd done that.

He's the reason she's completely shut herself of the world, why even her best friend hates her. He's showed Paris that Marinette and Miss Fortune are the same person. Instead of doing the right thing and help her cope with the fact that she'd killed Ladybug, he had lashed out and taught the people of the city that they could do the same. That they _should_ do the same. And even now that Alya was going to start to help Marinette –had been planning how to do it for the last week, actually–, he couldn't find it in himself to do it. He couldn't even look at her, for Christ's sake!

He gives up his search for Plagg when Madame Bustier enters the class. He'll come back eventually, he has to eat at some point after all.

He doesn't. And Adrien doesn't notice until he's in his room that Plagg isn't with him. He looks in the trashcan but there's only a bunch of folded pieces of paper. He looks into the fridge, the second floor, under the bed… but the god of destruction isn't in the room. Which means he's still in the school.

With a panicked shout Adrien races out of the room and yells at Nathalie that he'll be back soon. She tries to ask where he's going, but he's already out of the door and almost at the gates. He doesn't stop till he's at the school. He pants all his way to the classroom and finds the door shut. He deflates and is about to turn around when he hears voices.

When he looks through the window, he gasps.

|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|

The first time Plagg had seen one of the drawing was when Chat Noir had found Marinette drunk in an alley. Adrien hadn't noticed, but the tinny god had. He hadn't seen much, the paper half crumbled and hidden behind the intoxicated girl but it had been enough for him to get a glimpse of a big blue eye and a pencil drawn antennae. It had stricken him, it almost looked like…

The next day, while the class had been having an exam, he'd snuck out of the bag and into the one of the murderer of Ladybug. Once there, he'd searched for something similar, but all he found was a couple of books and a sketchbook with a few ripped pages. He'd skimmed through it and found a very rough sketch of something that vaguely reminded Plagg of his own form.

In the following days, he got to see how the girl –who he wasn't so sure was the murderer of the heroine anymore– went through the stages to complete the drawing slowly, until one day, when he opened the pad, he found himself looking at the lively and happy eyes of his mate. _Tikki_.

He'd almost hugged the picture before realizing that it was just that, a picture. How was it possible? Marinette wouldn't have been able to even know of Tikki's existence, much less to draw her with such detail. Not unless…

The next day, Plagg stays in Marinette's bag and goes with her to her house when the girl leaves for lunch break. He listens to her mother's attempts to talk to her and to he woman plead for the child to take some food. She finally seems to relent –if the smell of pastries is anything to go by– and he feels as they go up stairs, the sound of a door opening and then closing and suddenly, the plate clatters on a hard surface and the bag's dropped harshly to the floor. He resists the urge to yowl, he won't startle her more than it's necessary. The kid has been through enough already.

Peeking through a hole, he sees the _mess_ the room is in. _Well, the girl has made a habit of sleeping in alleyways, it stands to reason her private room will look the same._ He starts to unzip the zipper, making plenty of noise so Marinette hears and sees that something is in her backpack. By the time he pokes his head out, the girl is already staring at him with the most expressive face he's seen in her since this all started. He feels shy all of the sudden.

 _SHY!_ HIM! The god of destruction feeling shyness! Tikki would have a fit if she saw him. Looks like there's a first time for everything. He floats upwards and towards the frozen teen, stopping a meter away and at eye level.

"Hi, Princess…" he says bashfully. _Princess_ … it seems so long ago when Chat had called her that for the first time. He had unconsciously taken to call her by that same nickname. She's looking at him with misty eyes. The last prove he needed to confirm his suspicions. "The name's Plagg. I'm…" her quiet voice almost sounds delicate when she cuts him.

"Plagg…" she licks her lips and raises her trembling hands, cupping them beneath him so he can lower himself and rest on them. "You're just like her…" the tears finally fall and silent sobs quake her body. She puts him under her chin and nuzzles him close to her. He's so shocked that he doesn't even notice when Marinette falls to the floor, her legs rendered useless. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I couldn't save her, he has her! Oh, God, I'm sorry."

She keeps babbling for what seems like hours, telling Plagg what had happened between pleads for forgiveness. Finally tired –and hungry really, that delicious smell won't leave him alone– Plagg starts to purr for the girl. It has always calmed his kittens, he doesn't see way it wouldn't work for Tikki's lil' ladies.

Five minutes later Marinette is breathing normally again and separates the little cat from her neck. She rearranges herself so she's cross-legged and sets the kwami on her right knee.

"You calm now?" the teen sniffs and nods.

"Yeah, thank you. Um… how…?" she hesitates for a second, before trying again. "How did you find me? Does Chat…?" Plagg shakes his head.

"Nah, he doesn't and don't worry, I won't tell him if ya don't want me to." Marinette nods so he continues. "I um… I saw a drawing of Tikki, in the alley that day Chat found you." Her eyes snap open and he gives her a small smile. "I wanted to confirm if it really was Tikki or just some other thing, so I've been sneaking into your bag this past week. I haven't touched anything!" he's quick to add at her alarmed face. "I just wanted to make sure and yesterday… I saw the finished drawing, the one she's like this…" he imitates the pose, his arms stretched wide and his legs slightly bend and to the side.

Marinette nods and goes to the bag, takes the sketchpad and flips some pages until she finds the one he's talking about.

"This one, right?" the little sprite settles on her shoulder and nods. A tear escapes at the memories the little gesture pulls from her subconscious.

"Yeah… that's so much like her. She always does that face right before saying something mushy." Marinette smiles and nods, another lonely tear sliding down her cheek.

"Do you… do you want to see the others?" Plagg looks sharply at her, his big green eyes sparkling.

"There's more?" the girl hums and, after setting the pad down, gets up and goes to her bed. She sticks her hand beneath the cat pillow and takes a plastic folder, presenting it to Plagg. She opens it for him and spreads on the bed the dozen or so laminated papers with the drawings she's done. Tikki laughing, Tikki pouting, Tikki eating a cookie, Tikki sleeping, Tikki, Tikki, Tikki…. His emotions almost choke him, so he does what he does best: joke. "Tikki's everywhere! I don't know if I'm in heaven or hell!" Marinette laughs a second before cutting it sharply. She caresses the cheek of the sleeping Tikki.

"I just wanted her back… I couldn't save her and she's the only one I can actually talk about everything. Well, _was_ the only one I could talk to." She sniffs and wipes her eyes. "I failed her, I couldn't hide the earrings in time and now she's with _him_ , all _alone!_ " she sobs, once, before catching herself. Seems like he was correct in his earlier assumptions: she's blocking her emotions, as if she shows them, something bad will happen. And, taking into account just _who_ everybody _thinks_ she is, it might.

He ends up making her eat half the plate of pastries under the argument that 'Tikki will kill him when she comes back –because she _will_ – just to find her chosen half dead'. He isn't certain, but he's almost sure he sees a real smile on her lips when he reiterates that Tikki will come back to them.

When they leave her room to return to the school he asks her to grab something with cheese for him. And when he sees the face of her mother, he knows that this simple gesture is going to help their relationship, at least a little.

The next few days Plagg stays with Marinette as long as possible, not leaving the warm spot in the crook of her neck unless necessary. He spends his day watching her sketch Tikki over and over again, some of those drawings being set aside to become perfect pictures, most of them left in the sketchpad. Marinette makes him a drawing of Tikki everyday, not the perfect near photo ones, but not rough sketches either. She managed to give him one of the perfect ones she had saved, but he saw that is was difficult for her. Almost as if she was giving the real Tikki away. He kept that one safe under the mattress of other drawings he had on his room. He hadn't been able to fold it, so it stayed perfectly smooth, hidden from Adrien's eyes in the bottom of the trashcan.

Adrien. He loves the kid, but at the moment, he doesn't like him very much. He watches the kid from his hidden spot against Marinette's neck and makes a little hissing noise, low enough that only the girl hears him. She pets his head a little, already aware of what he's doing. She's a very smart kid, she had found out his chosen's identity the second day he'd stayed with her. Thankfully she had taken it pretty well, not making a big fuss and actually recognizing that it made sense. He's sure that it's just because she's blocked her emotions and was able to skip the emotional part and go straight to the rational part of the whole reveal thing.

"You ok?" Marinette's whisper rips him away from the memory and he nods against her fingers, still posed on his head.

"You should tell him…" he mutters darkly. Adrien should be aware of what he was doing. Everybody should. "You should tell them all!"

Marinette stays silent and just keeps stroking his head and petting his ears. The final bell will ring soon, he knows, so he lets her have this little moment to finish the last drawing she's done. In this one Tikki is seated on a smooth surface, a table probably, and she's surrounded by a dozen ladybugs. She's playing with them, laughing and her big blue eyes shining with happiness. He already knows it's going to become one of the perfect pictures.

The final bell rings and Marinette stays on her seat while he watches Adrien leave. He's always back with him before the kid leaves the class, but today he's staying. He can feel Marinette's confusion when the class is already empty and he's still here. Madame Bustier looks at her with concern in her eyes but leaves her be and closes her door behind her, she already knows Marinette waits until there's nobody left in the school to leave herself.

"Plagg?"

"We need to talk, Princess." Plagg separates from her and watches as she packs her things and sets the bag on her shoulder. When her eyes are locked on his, he starts. "You hafta tell everybody." Marinette sighs, she should've seen this coming.

"Plagg, please…"

"No, don't 'Plagg please' me! You're being bullied, beaten, for something you wouldn't have been able to do in the first place! You didn't kill Ladybug and everybody should know!"

"And who will believe me, Plagg?" her voice is soft, as if she's trying to explain to a child why he can't have another kid's toy.

"I don't know! We… we could tell Adrien! He'll believe us! We'll show him the drawings and I'll bite his face!" Marinette shakes her head and Plagg deflates.

"I don't want him to know I'm Ladybug. It'll crush him." Plagg bristles again and hisses loudly.

"Then let him be crushed!" the girl looks at him wide-eyed, the rage in his voice surprising her. "This is all his fault! If he'd listened to you none of this would've happened!" he's yelling, he knows, and it's making Marinette nervous, but he can't care less. She's going to listen to him, one way or another. "He should be apologizing for what he's done, they all should! All Paris should fall to their knees and _beg for your forgiveness!_ " he's trembling now and his eyes are cloudy, but he won't cry. Plagg the God of Destruction doesn't cry, even if it's out of anger and frustration.

He sees Marinette move out of the corner of his eye and suddenly her hands are around him and he's pressed to her chest. He nuzzles closer, he can't help it, he has grown to care for this little clumsy girl as if she was his own chosen.

"I'm ok, don't worry about me." She cradles him with one hand and starts to stroke his head with the other, massaging his ears just as softly as Tikki does when their chosens are together.

"You're not ok! You shouldn't have to be going through this. Please, Marinette!" he makes his best kitten eyes at her, but she just smiles tenderly, the same smile she has when she's looking at Tikki's drawings.

"I'm sorry, Plagg, but you know I can't. Please, the last thing I want is for Adrien to –" she feels as Plagg tenses in her grasp and before she knows, the little god is hissing like mad, his ears plastered to his head an his fur spiked. He's glaring daggers at the door and when she looks up, her bluebell eyes collide with grass green ones before they disappear.

"Oh, now he's gonna hear me!" and before she can stop him, Plagg is out of her hands and a second later, out of the class.

She runs after him, scared of just what he might tell the blond. She looks at both sides of the corridor and turns to the right, Plagg's voice seemingly coming from there. As she rounds a corner, the voice gets louder and when she enters the last classroom of the hall, she spots Adrien pressed against the wall, a stricken look on his face and Plagg screaming his throat raw.

"Plagg, stop!" the kwami whirls around and hisses at her. She's taken aback for a second, he's never done that to her before. "Please…" she keeps her voice soft, trying to urge Plagg to do the same. It doesn't work as much as she would've liked.

"NO, I'm not stopping until he sees, until he's conscious of what he's done!" he turns to his chosen again and makes a hissing-yowling noise she hasn't ever heard form him. "Look at her, kid, and look at her good, because she's the living, breathing prove of what your soul is capable of! _I said look at her!_ " Adrien's eyes snap away from the god to the girl five meters away from them. Dark, skinny, sad, lonely, _broken_. His eyes go back to Plagg's and the little sprite let's another hiss scape his lips. "Do you know what she goes though every day? DO YOU?!" Adrien shakes his head rapidly.

"Plagg, please don't –"

"Shut it, Princess!" he doesn't turn, but his tone is softer in his next words. " _She_ wouldn't want this, _she_ wouldn't stand for it and I won't either! Not anymore." A tremble races up Marinette's spine at the mention of Tikki and her lip trembles.

"She wouldn't want you to do this either." His ears droop a little, his whole posture slumping. He turns his head, looking at her with big lost eyes.

"He should know, Marinette… he should know what you have to go through because of what he did." A little spark of anger returns, but Plagg doesn't turn to Adrien, instead letting his gaze fall to the floor at Marinette's feet. "Did you know, Adrien? Did you know that her father barely speaks to her? That the man can't even look at his own daughter? That people chase her on the street and she has to run every time she leaves her house or the school? Because this are the only places she goes, she can't go anywhere else." Plagg looks at Adrien once more, his eyes a mix of sadness and rage, but his voice stays soft. "Did you know that she has to wait almost thirty minutes every day before leaving the school so she doesn't get corralled by other students? That she blocks her emotions because whatever she feels earns her a glare or an insult? That even after figuring out just _who_ you are, she kept pleading for me to not tell you anything? Than even after all that's happened to her –because of _YOU_ – she still cares enough about you to want to protect you? That –"

"Plagg, please that's enough." Her voice trembles and he knows he's crossed the line.

Thankfully, when he flies to her, she cups him in her hands and nuzzles him to her cheek. A silent tear hits his head. What he doesn't expect is the second one, and the third. By the fifth she's gotten ahold of herself again and the tears stop. She sniffs and stays still as Adrien gulps and rights himself from his sagged position against the wall.

The blond is still in shock, reeling from the information his kwami has just thrown at him. When he'd seen them –Plagg cradled in Marinette's hands, the girl stroking the kwami's head and ears– he'd been shocked. A second later Plagg had his eyes on him and was acting like a feral cat, hissing and showing him his fangs. And when he'd looked up, Marinette was watching him too. So he did the only thing that came to mind, he bolted.

He had run to the last classroom of the hall, but Plagg being Plagg had followed him and had him pressed against the wall the next moment. The god had started screaming right away, only to be stopped by Marinette a minute later. They had talked about someone but he doubted it was Ladybug, just who was that _'she'_ that was so important to both of them?

Plagg had lost his fire then, his whole body seemingly deflating like a balloon.

And then he starts talking again and Adrien doesn't know what's worst: the screaming or this muted rage. He listens as Plagg tells him what had become Marinette's life. He imagines her father, the 'big, warm teddy bear' as she'd once called him, ignore her as if she wasn't even there. He imagines her running, a maddened crowd chasing her through the streets. Imagines her waiting, alone, until there's nobody in the school. Imagines her pleading Plagg to not tell him what he's just been told, because she still _cares_ about him.

He watches as Plagg cuddles close to her, purring and trying to console her. And she lets him, because even though she needs the support, she knows the kwami needs it too. From the looks of it he'd just broken a promise, and Plagg never breaks his promises. Ever.

As he rights himself, Marinette stays still. Her eyes are downcast, but he catches the kwami's. the little god is looking at him intently, his little cheek pressed to Marinette's.

"You know the worst, kid?" Adrien blinks. Plagg's voice seems worn, tired. Green collides with green and Plagg raises a little paw to press it on the girls chin. "Marinette didn't kill Ladybug. Not even Miss Fortune did." Adrien tenses and Marinette whispers the sprite's name. He nuzzles her before continuing. "She did take the earing to Hawk Moth, but the girl beneath the mask still breathes. I've seen her myself." At that little piece of news, Adrien skips the shock altogether and is instantly demanding who she is, stepping forward. Marinette recoils instinctively, taking a few steps away and bumping into a table. Plagg hisses, warning the kid away. "Do you really think I'm gonna tell you?"

"But… but why? You have to tell me, Plagg! I need to see her!" the god bristles and presses himself harder against the girl.

"You see her every day and you don't even notice. I've broken a promise today, I'm not breaking another one." Adrien stops and Marinette moves away from the table and a couple more steps back. Nobody approaches her if it isn't to beat her, so she's wary of Adrien being so close to her.

"I… what? That's… that's not possible! I would know! She would've said something, tried to contact me in some way!" it's then that Adrien realizes that Marinette has been listening to them, and still hadn't freaked out that he was Chat Noir. He looks at her and frowns. She matches his stare with her own.

"I already know. I figured it out the second day Plagg stayed with me." The kwami hums.

"She's definitely smarter that you. She just spend five minutes thinking on it and didn't ask one single question. And here you are, with _your lady_ right before your eyes and you're so blinded that you can't even recognize her." He's being overly cruel, he's aware of it, but he simply doesn't care anymore. He's going to give Adrien all the information, even if he has to pound it in so the kid get's it. Marinette tenses at his words, but Adrien looses the _very_ literal meaning.

"W-Why aren't you helping me?" with a last nuzzle, Plagg leaves Marinette's warmth and floats to Adrien's broken visage.

"Because I promised her I wouldn't tell you, at least not until you saw what you'd done and she trusted you enough. Until she felt safe enough with trusting you with her secret." Adrien stares at him wide-eyed.

"You've spoken with her?"

"I've been in her room, what do you think?" Adrien opens his mouth to retort but Plagg spins around to Marinette.

"You ready to leave?" Marinette's eyes widen and, looking out the window, she nods her ok. Plagg floats to her and plops down on her shoulder before turning to Adrien. "I'm escorting her home. I'll fly back to yours after I eat."

Marinette looks at the boy one final time, as if she expects him to say something and when he doesn't she turns and walks out of the class. He hears her steps face down the hall. Thirty seconds later, he follows. There's no way he's leaving her unprotected.

Plagg's right, he'd screwed up. He just hopes it's not to late to try and fix things. He runs down the halls and finds her frozen on the entrance, hidden behind one of the doors. He watches her for a few moments before directing his gaze past the door and down the steps, where a group of men talk near the hedges with baseball bats in their hands. They don't look much older than him, maybe seventeen, nineteen at most. From now and then they look up to the doors, as if they're waiting for something. Or _someone_. Marinette.

Hidden as he is by the shadow of the doors the group doesn't see him, but the movement of Marinette's hair tells him that Plagg has. The little sprite's green ethereal eyes glow at him from between silky strands of back hair and he motions him to come, and to bring Marinette with him.

 _There's another way out! Come with me!_

Plagg's eyes narrow but he nods and the green spheres disappear. A second later Marinette turns around, her big blue eyes wary but after another fearful glance at the group she separates her hands of the wood and approaches silently. He reaches out to take her hand but she jumps back, he arm wrapping around her torso. Plagg flies from her neck and hovers over his ear.

"Don't touch her, don't get too close without her knowing and don't do sudden movements. Ask questions, even if it seems stupid. You get me?"

Adrien nods and takes a few steps back, giving Marinette the space to round the corner. She stays as far as possible from him and Adrien finds himself resenting the three meters of space between them. He'd done that. He was the reason she needs a minimum of three meters between herself and another person to feel comfortable.

With a last look to the boys outside, Adrien turns and starts walking. He expects Plagg to settle on his shoulder but when he doesn't he turns around and finds him whispering something to Marinette. She smiles, a little smile he hasn't seen in months, before it falls a second later. She really is blocking her emotions.

They walk through the halls; up and down, right and left until they're at the other side of the building. Adrien is careful to make sure nobody is following before opening the back door of the school. He looks around the little side street and seeing there isn't any suspicious people he get's out and a little behind the door so Marinette feels safe enough to get through.

When she's at a save distance he closes the door and walks in the direction of the bakery, sticking to alleys and side streets, the least transited the better. They finally reach the alley where the back door of the bakery is situated and Adrien stands aside so she can reach it and open it. She whispers something to Plagg and disappears inside, while the god returns to Adrien.

"She said to wait here." He informs and Adrien nods. He gets his phone out of the pocket and looks into the screen. 37 messages and 10 calls from Nathalie, 273 messages and 79 calls from Chloe and 5 calls from Gorilla.

 _When has that happened? Has my phone been vibrating the whole time?_

He texts Nathalie and Gorilla telling them that he'll be home shortly and absentmindedly scrolls down Chloe's texts, not really seeing them till he catches Marinette's name in one of them. He stops and reads it.

 _[CHLOE: Did i tell u, adrikins? i managed to convince a bunch of guys to go to school today to give Marinette a leson, isnt that great?!]_

 _[Anyway, daddy bought me this amazing purse that…]_

Adrien's brain is jumping around inside his skull. _She's done WHAT?!_ He's barely able to control his features by the time Marinette appears again, a big brown paper bag in her arms. He doesn't notice her mother behind her until he feels Plagg hiding behind his head. She goes down the stairs slowly and approaches him, her eyes darting all over him as if trying to see if he's going to attack her. He stays as still as possible and when she's close enough she offers the bag. He raises his arms slowly, giving her as much time as possible to see he doesn't plan to hurt her. As soon as he has a firm grip on the bag she releases it and takes a step back, away from his reach.

"All the cheese related things are for Plagg. There are some other pastries for you too." She says quietly and he breathes in the heavenly smell of the food, Plagg practically vibrating against his head. "Thank you and see you tomorrow." And with that she returns to the house. Her mother stays on the door for a second before approaching him. She sizes him up before speaking.

"Adrien, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing with my daughter?" she has a frown on her face, clearly suspicious of him.

"There was a group of guys at the entrance of the school waiting for her. I just showed her another way out and escorted her here. I-I swear I wasn't going to do anything to her! I-I just –" she raises her hand to shush him and he swallows. She regards him again before asking her next question.

"Why?" Adrien takes a deep breath and shifts his feet.

"Somebody has told of what's been happening to her. A friend of mine has shifted my perception of things. She didn't do the things that happened while possessed by the Akuma, it was the Akuma itself." She nods, already aware of that. "I… I actually knew Ladybug, we were friends, so when Miss Fortune said she'd killed her it hit me hard and instead of doing what was right and blame the Akuma, I followed Chat Noir's steps and blamed Marinette." Sabine nods again, her hard features morphing into softer ones. "Now I know that I was wrong. She was a victim, like all the other people that have been akumatized before and after her. And… I've been made aware that she didn't actually kill Ladybug." Sabine gasps and he gives her a little smile. "I know, pretty hard to believe, but my friend know who Ladybug is, and she's still alive."

"But Marinette says se did kill Ladybug!" Adrien nods and the woman just looks more puzzled. A vibration in his pocket tells him he has to end this soon.

"Kinda. She took the Miraculous, so technically, Ladybug _is_ dead, but the girl underneath the mask still lives." His phone vibrates again, this time it's a call. "I have to go now but…" he thinks his next words carefully and finally nods, a look of determination in his eyes when they return to lock with Sabine's. "Do you have a pen?"

|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|

Adrien lies sprawled on his bed, eyes on the ceiling and one of the pastries Marinette had given him on his mouth. Plagg, for the first time in days is sitting next to him, munching in what he called 'the best thing you humans have ever created' and by the looks of it, it was even better than Camembert. He wouldn't know, Plagg hadn't even let him _touch_ anything of what Marinette had given him.

He'd been in the same position for almost an hour now. He'd been isolated here for refusing to give the bag to Nathalie, and he was grounded until he yielded and surrendered the bakery goods. _Not happening, ever._

"Adrien?" he turns his head and looks at Plagg. The god stares at him for a minute before grinning, his tail flicking behind him. "I'm proud of you, kid." Adrien blinks at him, surprised. "You didn't have to do that, but you did. I was already thinking you had lost what made you the perfect Black Cat, but looks like you were just hiding it." Adrien blinks again, now confused. "Your heart, kitten! Your selflessness, your need to help the ones that can't help themselves." Adrien's lips form a little O, now understanding what the kwami was talking about.

 _"Do you have a pen?" Sabine looks confused, but takes one out of the apron she's wearing. When he has it in his hands he scribbles his phone number on a corner of the bag and tears the piece. "This is my personal number," he says, returning her the pen and the note with it. "could you ask Marinette if it would be ok if I escorted her to school tomorrow?" the woman gapes at him and he shifts his feet again, self-conscious. "It's just that there are a lot of people that want to hurt her and I'm tired of ignoring it. Just ask her if she'd feel comfortable with it and text me her answer? And tell her that it's alright if she says no and that the offer it's always open for when she feels ready to take it." He opens his mouth to continue but the phone starts to vibrate again, with a frustrated groan he takes it out and looks into the flashing screen. NATHALIE. "I'm sorry, I really have to get going. Thank you for the food." He bows to her, just as his Chinese professor has taught him and turns around, walking quickly out of the alley and into the street._

His phone chimes, breaking him out of his reverie and he pats his bedside table for it. He takes it and looks into the screen.

 _[UNKNOWN NUMBER: Hi, sweetie, it's Sabine. I commented to Marinette your proposal and she said that it would be ok. You can come get her at 7:00 (she likes to get inside the school early).]_

 _[And, Adrien, don't pack lunch. Marinette will give it to you.]_

 _[Thank you for helping my daughter, Adrien, you're a good young man. I hope you've found the pastries of your liking ;). Have a great afternoon, dear.]_

With a fond smile on his lips Adrien answers that he'll be there in time and tells her that the lunch won't be necessary.

 _[ADRIEN: I really don't want to be an inconvenience. The pastries you've given me today are enough. They're awesome, btw.]_

 _[You shouldn't thank me, it's what it should've been done since the beginning. I've someone has to be thanked, that would be Nino. He's the one that's been trying to protect her since the beginning.]_

 _[Mme. CHENG: Hush, I'm making you lunch and that's it. I'll make sure it's low on calories so don't you worry about that.]_

 _[Tell Nino the same, will you sweetie? If he's been helping my girl he deserves to be spoiled a little too ;P]_

 _[ADRIEN: You aren't going to change your mind about the lunch, are you?]_

 _[Mme. CHENG: What do you think, dear?]_

 _[ADRIEN: Now I know from where Marinette got it XD! I'll make sure to tell Nino. I have to do my homework now. Thank you so much and see you tomorrow!]_

 _[Mme. CHENG: See you!]_

Sending a quick text to Nino, Adrien sets the phone down and goes to his desk, mind set on doing his physics and literature homework but just as he sits on his chair, his phone starts ringing. With a little whine –he wants to do his homework, dammit!– he gets up and picks the device from the table. _NINO._

"Yes?"

 _"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN SABINE'S MAKING ME LUNCH?!"_


	2. Chapter 2

At seven on the dot, Adrien's car parks in front of the bakery and a little bell rings when he opens the door. It's still closed, the display case still empty and the lights out.

"We're not open yet! You'll have to wait until –" behind the blooming voice, Tom Dupain appears through the doorway that leads to the kitchen, his hands covered in flour and a light smudge on his left cheek. His eyes widen when he sees Adrien standing there. "Oh! Hello, Adrien. What are you doing here?" Adrien blinks and shuffles a little, suddenly very uncomfortable. _Didn't Mme. Cheng tell him I was coming?_

"Tom?! If it's Adrien tell him to come on up!" Sabine's voice shouts from the house. Tom raises a brow.

"Well, ok. Through the kitchen, final door."

Leaving Adrien there, Tom walks to the storage room. He hurries up the stairs and enters through the open door. The house smells heavenly. He follows the scents to the kitchen, where Sabine is doing something on the counter, six lunchboxes on the table ready to go.

"Good morning, Mme. Cheng." He makes a little bow, even if she can't see it.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Grab three of those boxes, will you? The one with the X is yours." She speaks without turning, concentrating in whatever is in the counter.

"Three?"

"Yes, in case you decide to skip and put a little more meat in those bones. If not, you can give it to someone else." She smirks at him over her shoulder and continues. "Marinette will be down shortly."

"I'm here." He turns a little, and sees Marinette half hidden behind the doorway, watching them with wary eyes. Sabine turns her head again and gives her daughter a sad smile.

"Good morning, sweetie. Grab a lunchbox. Today your father and I have to go make a large delivery, so you have to have lunch at school. Is that ok?" Marinette's eyes widen in fear for a second before she hides it again. She nods, but makes no move to approach the table. Adrien looks at her confused, and then it hits him. Two meters between them. He takes a couple steps away from the door. Marinette eyes him before entering slowly and grabbing a box, putting it inside her backpack.

"You ready to go?" he asks, remembering Plagg's rule of asking as much questions as possible. She nods and after her mother gives her a little hug –one she doesn't return– and he makes a little bow to the woman they descend the stairs and are out of the door, Marinette completely ignoring Tom as they pass the kitchen. They step into the cold air of the morning and Adrien makes to enter the car before remembering himself. "Would you like to go walking or in the car?"

Marinette fidgets a little and suddenly he sees a flash of green on her neck. Plagg's with her. He resists the urge to check on his bag to make sure he really isn't there. Marinette stays still for a second before nodding to whatever Plagg told her and looking at him.

"I-I would prefer walking." She says quietly and he nods. He opens the back door of the car to take his bag and inform Gorilla that they'll be walking to school before closing it again. Adrien steps back and waves as his bodyguard drives away.

Adrien starts walking, already aware that she won't want him walking behind her or beside her, either leaving her exposed to sneak attacks or too close for comfort. Imagine his surprise when she appears at his left side, only a mere meter of space between them. He looks at her but her eyes are glued to the floor before her feet. Plagg flashes from her neck to his.

"She has to give something too, kid." Whispers the kwami. "You can't help her if she doesn't meet you halfway."

 _Right. I won't be able to help her up unless she takes my hand first._

The though brings a smile to his lips, remembering when his mother had told him that. He'd been struggling with some work his tutors had left him with and had been stubborn about asking for help. His mother had told him that same thing.

They walk in silence, Adrien not really sure if she'd feel comfortable with him making small talk so he stays silent.

"Adrien?" he looks at her, blinks and hums in question. "Why are you doing this?" he frowns a little and sighs before speaking in a soft tone.

"I wanted to apologize for what I did to you, what I did when you were akumatized and all that followed. It's all my fault and I'm aware of that. You didn't deserve it, even if you _had_ killed Ladybug." He looks into her shocked eyes and takes in a shaky breath. "I want to help you, I want you to feel safe again, comfortable at least. You… you're scared of everybody and you need a minimum of space between you and somebody else and I did that. You're like this because of me and I can't stand it! I want you to go back the way you were before, I want you to be happy again. Can I… would you let me… at least try?"

They stop in the middle of a little side street. Marinette looks up at him with shocked eyes and he's afraid she'll flee. So he stays still and lets her process what he's just told her. Plagg pats his neck but he doesn't really know if it is because he's proud of him or to give support. He lets his ashamed and sorrowful eyes fall to the ground and waits for her to say something.

She doesn't utter a word. Instead, she does something better. She approaches slowly, eyeing him carefully. She presses herself to him, wrapping her arms loosely around his torso. He shivers in relief and returns her hug slowly, taking care not to startle her. They stay like that for a while until he sees a group of guys round the corner. He's not sure if they're one of _those_ , but better be safe than sorry.

He disentangles himself from Marinette and taking her hand, he tugs her into an alley. He pushes them both behind a dumpster ant presses a finger to his lips to tell her to not make a sound. He peeks into the street and sees with no small amount of disgust that they're the same people from yesterday. Chloe is in for a _long_ talk.

Once he makes sure that the group is out of sight, he offers his hand back to Marinette. At first she hesitates a little to take it, but when he's about to lower it back to his side she grazes her fingers against it and finally settles her palm on his. He gives it a little squeeze and they emerge from the dark shadows of the alley. They start walking to the school at a faster pace and it's not until they're ascending the stairs that he notices that Marinette hasn't released his hand. It makes him smile.

 _She trusts me! Oh, thank God!_

They walk down the corridors and up a flight of stairs to their classroom. The doors are still locked –it's only 7:13 after all– so they sit on the floor beside one another. When he sees her take out her sketchbook he takes out his tablet and catches up on some homework he forgot last night. They spend about ten minutes like this before his eyes catch just what she's drawing and promptly bursts out laughing.

"Oh, God! Is that Plagg!?" he manages to say between gasping breaths. The kwami pears curiously from his snoozing spot on Marinette's neck and instantly yowls in dismay.

"Marinette, you promised!" there, drawn in pencil is a pouting Plagg, seated in the center of what looks like a cheese Danish and covered by the creamy cheese. His eyes are to the side and his little arms crossed, his ears are down and there's a berry on top of his head.

" I did not. I promised I wouldn't tell anybody, not that I couldn't draw it." She explains calmly, reaching into her bag for her pencil colors. Adrien debates between finishing his homework and watching her color the drawing.

 _Fuck it._

Setting the tablet back into his backpack, Adrien scoots a bit closer to Marinette and hugs his knees, settling his head on them. Marinette leans a bit on him, not enough to see, but he feels it and Adrien sighs in contentment. They stay like that for a while. Plagg whines from time to time and yowls again when Marinette colors the berry with a bright red color.

"That's not fair, Marinette! It wasn't even red! It was blue and you know it!" the teen ignores him, but Adrien sees a small smile play with her lips before she suppresses it. He's going to have to work on that.

"It really happened?" ha asks in a whisper when Plagg flies away with an indignant huff. Marinette nods.

"Yeah, he though it was deep enough for him to dive in. As you can see, it wasn't." Adrien snickers again and controls it before Plagg returns, hiding in Marinette's neck. "Plagg?"

"The gamer boy is coming." The girl immediately stiffens and pulls away from Adrien, shuffling to the side until there's a meter of space between them. Two pairs of green eyes look at her, confused.

"Princess, what are you doing?"

"Marinette?"

The girl stays silent, leafing through the pages until she finds a half colored, purple hibiscus. She straightens her pencils, putting the ones she's been using for Plagg away and taking out different shades of purple, black and blue. She folds into herself, crossing her legs and hunching over. She starts coloring, completely ignoring both Adrien and Plagg, as if they weren't even there. Plagg zips to Adrien, a little frown marring his face as steps are heard approaching down the hall.

"Seems like she only feels comfortable around you, kid. I'm afraid she will close up as soon as somebody comes near." Whispers Plagg. "I'm gonna stay with her, ok? On lunch break, go to the roof."

Adrien nods and Plagg disappears from his neck just as Max comes in sight. He sees as the boy acknowledges Marinette with a nod and a barely camouflaged look of disdain before he approaches Adrien, sitting on the opposite side. Max tries to start conversation, but Adrien either ignores him or gives one-word answers.

When more people start to appear, Marinette is quick to put her stuff away. She stands up and goes to a little shadowed corner out of the way. He sees her hand go up to her neck, and he imagines Plagg make some mean comment bout someone. A random teacher passes by and opens the door. He waits until everybody is inside to give Marinette a little smile and enter himself. A minute later Marinette enters the class, skillfully avoiding Chloe's purse and Kim's leg, both laid in the middle of the stairs for the sole purpose of making her trip. He takes pleasure on the looks on their faces when their plans fail. He looks around, all the class is in their respective seats except…

Nino comes running into the room just as the first bell rings. He's panting, trying to catch his breath. Thankfully, Madame Bustier isn't here yet so he takes his time in his way to his new seat next to Alya. Both Adrien and Alya look at him with concerned faces but he just waves them off, slumping in this seat and laying his chin on the table.

"You…" he raises an accusatory finger at the blond boy before the arm plops down on the table again. " have a lot to explain." He wizzes and releases a final sigh as his breathing returns to normal.

"Are you talking about the lunch thing?" inquires Adrien.

"No, about the unicorn I saw waiting for you outside." Adrien blinks, looks at Alya and both lean to the side to look out the window. No unicorn. They turn to Nino with confused frowns on their faces. "OMG, are you guys for real?!"

"Well, it's not like we haven't seen weirder things before…" mutters Adrien in defense. His eyes stray up at Marinette and he sees her suppressing a smile, even with her eyes glued to her sketchbook.

 _She's laughing at me! I can't believe this!_

She risks a peek and when she sees he's already watching she returns her eyes to the pad, the smile finally appearing before it disappears again. She turns on a new page and starts drawing.

"Yes, Adrien, I'm talking about the lunch thing. Care to explain?" his eyes return to Nino –who thankfully hasn't noticed him looking at Marinette– and he scoots closer so he can keep his voice down. Alya approaches too, curious about what they're talking about.

"You want the long story or the short one?"

"The short one."

"I escorted Marinette home yesterday and her mother wanted to thank me with lunch. I told her you where the one that should be thanked, so she made you lunch too." Nino gapes at him.

"I'm going to need more information." Just then, a man enters the room, demanding silence.

"Good morning, students. I'm Alain D'Amico. Madame Bustier is going to be absent today. She didn't leave any work for you to do, so you can do whatever you want. Just stay on your seats and keep your voice down." And with that he sits on the teacher's desk and takes out of a big ass folder a wad of exams and starts grading them.

"Good, now we have time. Start explaining, sunshine." He looks at Alya, who is pouting at him.

"What?"

"I've been trying to figure out who to approach Marinette for a week now without spooking her and you do it just like that? No fair…"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll go back to that later. Spill, Adrien." Urges Nino, a little frown on his face.

Adrien starts from the beginning, modifying it a little, skipping Plagg's scolding and Ladybug being alive all together. He even tells them about Chloe being the one sending those goons. Alya looks ready to go to tear the blonde a new face, but both boys hold her back, pointing at the teacher. When he's done, Nino is silent and Alya still sending murderous glares at Chloe.

"Why this sudden change of heart, Adrien? Yesterday you couldn't even look at her." Adrien sighs and tells them the same he told Sabine, about this friend of his changing his view of things.

"And how did you do it?" Adrien smiles at Alya and puts four fingers before her.

"Don't touch her, don't approach her without her knowing and don't do sudden movements. Ask questions, even if they seem stupid." He lists the same Plagg had told him, wiggling a finger with each norm.

"That's... actually very smart. How didn't I think of that?" Murmurs Alya, most likely beating herself up for not coming up with something so simple.

"Yeah, but don't worry. I didn't think of that either. It was my friend."

"Let's go back to that. Who's this mysterious friend that appears all of the sudden?" Adrien gulps, a little afraid of Nino's face.

"Um... a friend of mine? You don't know him."

"Obviously..." Nino rolls his eyes, clearly not pleased with Adrien's answer. "Name?"

"Plagg."

"What kind of name is that?" Asks Alya loudly. Adrien is sure he hears Plagg hiss. When he peeks at Marinette, she has her hand on her neck. Nobody else seems to have heard it, thankfully.

"It's an old name, from even before the ancient Egypt. Something about all the male first born having this name in his family." Adrien pats himself on the back for coming up with something so plausible under pressure.

Nino looks like he wants to say something, but the bell rings. The next few classes pass quickly and before he notices, the lunch bell rings and everybody starts leaving the classroom. He sends Marinette a look and exits the class with the others. He sees Nino head for the cafeteria.

"Nino, wait!" the boy turns and Adrien catches up to him. He swings his bag around and takes a lunchbox out. "Here you go." Nino is about to take it, when he notices the X painted on top. "No, wait, this is mine." He takes it back before his friend does and gives him another one.

"What's the difference?"

"Mine's low on calories." Nino raises a brow, but Adrien's gaze is directed to Alya, who is looking at the box with a glum face. "Do you want one?" Alya's head snaps up, her eyes wide.

"W-What?"

"I have another one. Mme. Cheng told me to give it to somebody. Do you want it?" he offers it to Alya and the girl gulps. Her hands tremble as she takes the box and she presses it to her chest.

"Thank you, Adrien."

They offer him to join them but he refuses, saying he already agreed to meet with someone. He leaves before they can ask whom and he skips up the stairs to the roof. The door is already ajar and he pushes it a little to squeeze through. As soon as he's out in the open the wind wipes his hair on his face and he looks around. He finds Marinette seated behind the railing, protecting herself from the wind. She has her sketchpad out and is coloring something in black, most likely Plagg.

He approaches, giving her enough time to see him. He seats himself at her side, giving her enough space, but she shuffles closer and he can't help but smile. He's grateful that she feels that comfortable around him. He looks into the drawing and snorts. It's almost finished, and Marinette ends coloring Plagg's ear, sets the black down and picks the cream and white. She starts adding little details; a twinkle here, a bit of cheese there. Once it's finished, she picks a deep pink and writes her name on the side, putting her trademark heart on the I.

"That's amazing, Marinette." He whispers, awed. Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink, but it immediately starts to face.

 _How does she do that?_

"Thank you, Adrien. Do you want it?"

"Better not. As soon as it leaves your hands Plagg's gonna destroy it. But… can I take a picture instead?" Marinette nods and passes the pad. While he takes his phone and snaps the photo, Marinette takes her lunch out and opens it. It's a typical Chinese lunchbox with rice, meat and noodles. And two cheese Danishes that Marinette takes out and leaves on top of the lid. Plagg zips out of her neck and starts munching on one.

"Hi, Plagg."

"Hey, kid. Did you tell those two about me?" Adrien nods and returns the book to Marinette. He takes his box and finds a veggie omelet, grilled chicken and sliced fruit. There's a couple of plain cookies that he recognizes from the bakery that are low on sugar too. He takes the chopsticks and starts eating.

"Yeah, but don't worry. They think you're just a friend of mine with an old name. They don't know you're not human." Says Adrien, waiving his chopsticks to emphasize that it's no big deal. He looks at Marinette, and finds her staring into her lunchbox, the food inside untouched. "Marinette?"

"I'm not hungry…" she makes to set her lunch aside, but he settles his hand on her knee. She jumps a little, not having expected him to touch her. She looks up at him, eyes wide and finds him giving her a concerned look.

"You have to eat, at least a little." He sees her bite her lip, and tries something else. "How about you just eat one of the foods. What do you like more: rice, meat or noodles?" she blinks and looks at her lunch.

"Noodles."

"Then eat just the noodles." He sees her frown at the food, clearly not convinced. "Would you like my fruit instead? I don't feel like eating fruit at the moment, so how about we trade?" she looks into his lunchbox and finally relents.

They exchange the boxes and she starts eating his sliced fruit and he the plain rice. His lunchbox is empty except for the fruit, even the cookies are gone and he's a bit embarrassed to admit he'd practically gobbled it up in the time it had taken her to put her things away. Looking back to the box he had on his lap, he continued eating. When he's done, he sets the box between them and not even a minute later Marinette has picked it up and is eating the noodles and the meat. He doesn't look at her, but he can't contain the pleased smile that lifts his lips.

|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|

Days pass and before Adrien realizes, it's been a month since he found out Plagg had been sneaking out to go with Marinette. He's been escorting her from home to school and back and spending lunch break at her house to her mother's insistence. Marinette's relationship with both her parents has improved, her mother almost the same as before and her father now actually talking to her. Alya has made some major improvements and while Marinette's still wary of her former best friend, she doesn't push her away or hide behind Adrien when the girl approaches. Nino was a lot easier though, with him having believed in her from the start.

He'd had a talk with Chloe, but the blonde had refused to see reason. He had cut his friendship with her on that moment. Chloe had reiterated that Marinette was at fault and when she called Marinette a murderer, he had snapped.

"Oh, yeah? Well she wouldn't have killed Ladybug if you weren't such a bitch! She got akumatized because of _YOU_ , Chloe! If you want to blame somebody, blame yourself, because _you_ were the one that created the Akuma that murdered Ladybug!" and with that, he had turned on his hills and stomped off to the roof where Marinette waited for him with one of her little, sweet smiles that had melted the anger in him in a second.

The groups that littered the city had banished after he'd made the announcement that Marinette was now under his protection and any that tried to harm her would go to jail. He had gotten the mayor and police cooperation after explaining that Ladybug was indeed still alive and only in hiding after having lost her Miraculous. That information was, obviously, confidential and the only ones that knew of it were high-ranking police officers and the mayor, whom he had made swear on the life of his daughter that he would not reveal the information to said daughter. If Chloe Bourgeois knew, everybody knew.

"But, Chat Noir, why would you want to keep the people of Paris in the dark of such wonderful news?" had asked Mayor Bourgeois, clearly wanting to reach for his phone and inform his daughter right away.

"Because then they will ask where she is and why hasn't she said she's still alive, and the people won't understand that she wasn't able to. They don't realize that she has a civilian life too, that's she's not Ladybug 24/7. She only asked two things, and those were to keep the information confidential and to protect Marinette. Don't ask why, those are the orders and we're going to follow them."

They had asked how he had gotten the information and he'd just said 'from a reliable source' before jumping out the window of the police station.

And here he is now, skipping through the rooftops. Plagg had insisted he go to Marinette's and he'd been happy to agree. Jumping down on her roof he listens to make sure she's alone and taps on the trapdoor.

Nothing.

He taps again and looks into the room through the window. She's seated on her chaise, her knees drawn to her chest and her arms clutching some kind of folder. She seems lost in though, her eyes glassy and her breathing deep. He'd think she's asleep if it weren't for her open eyes. He knocks again, louder this time and she jumps at the sound. She looks up and he waves at her. He sees her leave the folder on the lounge and rushes to open the trapdoor.

Once inside, he releases his transformation, as he's done every time he's been here, and Plagg instantly flies to the plate of sliced cheese bread that waits for him in Marinette's desk. Said girl is back at the chaise, the folder clutched to her chest once again. She looks nervous and it's making him edgy.

"Mari? You ok?" he walks to her and kneels by her side. She takes a deep breath and releases it slowly.

"I'm gonna show you something, and you have to promise you won't freak out." He nods and the munching sounds that Plagg has been making suddenly stops. The kwami flashes to her, little crumbs clinging to his cheeks and whiskers.

"Princess?" Plagg looks at the folder anxiously before returning his green eyes to Marinette's bluebells. "Are you sure?" Marinette licks her lips before nodding and Adrien looks between them, a confused frown marring his features.

"What are you two talking about?" instead of answering, Marinette hands him the folder and opens it after she nods again, giving him permission.

He takes the handful of laminated papers out of the folder and spreads them in front of him, on the floor. They're all photo-like drawing of a creature similar to Plagg, only that this one is red with deep blue eyes and a black spot on its forehead. There's one of it sleeping, another eating cookies and another laughing with its tinny arms spread eagle. He counts thirty-seven. One catches his eyes and he picks it up. Its one of Plagg and this other kwami hugging, the other is laughing and Plagg has this tender smile he's only seen once when he was speaking of his soulmate, AKA Ladybug's kwami Tikki.

He looks at Marinette, and she has eyes to the side, he hands busy stroking Plagg's head. the switch in his head clicks, and the light bulb lights up his brain.

"You're Ladybug…" her hands still, and a second later her head moves up and down. He stares at her, connecting the dots.

Marinette has black hair and bluebell eyes.

Ladybug has black hair and bluebell eyes.

Marinette wears – or wore– her hair in twin pigtails.

Ladybug wears –or wore– her hair in twin pigtails.

Marinette always disappeared during Akuma attacks.

Ladybug was always present during Akuma attacks.

The only time when she wasn't, Marinette was.

And the he remembers all that he did to her and all that happened to her after.

"Oh, God… I-I… you a-and I…" his eyes water and he looks at Marinette again. She's smiling, but it's a sad smile, as if she knew this would go like this. "My Lady…" she tilts her head to the side, regarding him with tender and sympathetic eyes.

"Hi, Chaton…" she reaches her hand to him, as if to touch his cheek but he jumps back, scrambling on hands and butt until he bumps into something, her desk probably. "Adrien?" he shakes his head, the tears finally falling.

Marinette sees him open his mouth, probably to call for his transformation and run, but she's faster. She jumps from her chaise and is on top of him in two seconds, one hand on his mouth and the other on his shoulder to support herself. She's seated on his lap, straddling his thighs.

"Adrien, Adrien look at me." Her voice is soft and she movers the hand that's on his shoulder to his head and starts stroking his hair as she's done countless times both as Marinette and Ladybug. He's sobbing, his whole body trembling. "I forgive you, ok? I forgave you a long time ago."

He shakes his head and his breathing becomes even more ragged. Thank God her parents are down at the bakery. Seeing he's not going to call for Plagg, she takes her hand away from his lips and hugs him, tucking his head to her chest and cooing for him, repeating that it's all ok and that she forgives him. She looks up at the desk, where Plagg is seated with a broken look.

After what seems like an eternity, Adrien rises his arms and hugs her back, almost crushing her with the force.

"I'm s-sorry! I'm so sorry, Marinette! Oh, G-God, I'm sorry!"

They stay in the same position for a while, Marinette seated on Adrien's lap and Adrien's head nestled to Marinette's chest. She keeps stroking his head until his breathing returns to normal and his sobs become sniffles. She separates a little, cradling his cheeks with her hands and he kisses his forehead.

"It's ok, Adrien..."

"B-But I –" Marinette puts her right thumb over his mouth so silence him.

"No buts. You were sad and angry, you thought I had killed your Lady. I would've done the same. You may have superpowers, but you're human and like all humans you make mistakes. Just… promise you'll listen next time somebody tries to explain things to you." Adrien eyes open wide and his eyes cloud over again, but he nods and Marinette kisses his forehead a second time.

|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|–|

Alya couldn't understand what had happened. Marinette had been getting better at a steady pace but still having that impenetrable barrier around her. She only seemed to lower it a little if Adrien was near, but not much. She usually hid behind him but still maintaining some space between them, as if she was afraid that if she touched him he would disappear.

And then, everything changed. It was like Adrien and Marinette were glued together. From one day to the other Adrien started sitting with Marinette at the back of the class and if you looked under the table –which she definitely hadn't– you could've see Adrien's left hand resting on Marinette's knee. And the girl didn't shy away like she did when somebody else touched her.

Not that it was a bad thing or anything, it just confused her.

One day, she stayed in school to study. She couldn't stay at home with her sisters fluttering around or being forced to babysit them for her mother. When her phone chimed, she was quick to grab it and put it on silence mode, but not before reading the text that had came in. It was her mother, telling her that she had to come home in an hour. Answering with a thumbs up emoji, Alya got up and stretched. She hadn't eaten since lunch break so she gathered her stuff and made her way to the cafeteria. Only to stop in her tracks when she hears sounds coming from the gym.

She blinked, confused. What was somebody doing in the school's gym at… 7:42 pm? So instead of turning left and going to the cafeteria to order some coffee and a pastry, she turned right and went to investigate. As she got closer, she started to hear voices between the other noises.

"C'mon, harder! Use your whole body, not just your leg! That's it, again! Again!" Wait, was that… Adrien? "Again, one more time and then we can rest." Yeah, definitely Adrien, but what was he talking about? And with whom?

She quickened her pace and was in front of the gym's door in a minute. The sounds had stopped, but she could hear people talking in hushed voices from the other side of the door. She tries to see through the glass part of the door, but she can't see anybody. They must be in the other side of the gym. Turning, she races to the stairs that will take her to the bleachers. From there, she'll be able to see the whole gym.

By the time she's on top, the sounds have started again. She hides behind one of the columns and peers around. What she sees leaves her stunned.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, Guys! I know, you all thought I was dead or something; but NO! I am still standing XD. I know I owe you all a chapter, but it's not finished yet. Between homework (of what I have a TON), last trimester exams (my grades turned out awesome, btw. 5 As and 6 Bs, not to brag ;P), three literary contests (and I'm gonna participate in another one with a first prize of 1800€ OMG) and my social life (which is practically nonexistent by now) I didn't have much time to work on Cheese Breeze.**

 **BUT DO NOT WORRY, MY CYBER-FRIENDS! Inspiration has struck! I am back at working on Cheese Breeze and I hope I'll finish it soon. Mean while, I think it would be rude if I didn't give you** ** _something_** **to obsess over while you wait. So, without more delay, I present you a CHEESE BREEZE SNEAK PEEK!**

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"Arms up! Higher! That's it, now… hit! Again!"

Alya can't believe her eyes. Adrien, clad only in short sweatpants and training gloves, is blocking the hits of an equally unclad Marinette, who's only wearing a sports bra, short tights and a similar pair of gloves, her hair pulled up into a ponytail. The way they move, so synchronized, amazes her. They move as if it's second nature. As if they've done this a million times before.

"AHA!" the scream makes her jump and when she looks at the pair again she almost gasps. Marinette has Adrien pinned to the floor; she's sitting on his stomach, her much smaller hands pressing his close to his head. "Gotcha!"

Alya blinks and Adrien hooks a leg around Marinette's waist. The sudden movement makes her loose the grip on his arms and he reverses the hold, twisting her arms behind her back and he sits up, pressing their sweaty chests together.

"Where you saying something?" even without seeing it, Alya can tell that there's a smug smirk on Adrien's lips.

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After getting a shower and changing into her street clothes, Marinette gets out of the lockers room and waits for Adrien to finish changing. It's been three weeks since she told him she was Ladybug and after the shock had subsided they'd been inseparable. Adrien had changed his sitting spot and he helped her catch up with her studies, he walked her everywhere –not that he actually needed to after the police made it clear she was untouchable– and he'd started training her so she'd get back to her original strength.

"You ready to go?" she turns to Adrien and nods.

They're not even out of the school grounds before Adrien's arm is around Marinette's shoulders and she's cuddled to his side. In these last few weeks since she told him she was Ladybug they had gotten closer than they ever had. It was like the partnership between Ladybug and Chat Noir had fused with the friendship between Adrien/Chat and Marinette. He feels calm in her presence, she feels safe in his.

 **Aaaand... Thats it! Hope you enjoyed! BYE!**


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